Interlocking hinge



April 1966 R. BLUMBERG 3,243,838

INTERLOCKING HINGE Filed April '7, 1964 INVENTOR RUTH BLUMBERG 1 BY mdfluobv ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,243,838 INTERLOCKING HINGE Ruth Blumberg, 21 Hilltop Court, Woodbury, N. Filed Apr. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 360,472 1 Claim. (Cl. 16-128) This invention relates to a hinge construction and refers more particularly to an improved hinge for use on plastic boxes.

In my abandoned patent application Serial No. 233,519, filed October 29, 1962, for a hinge construction, I describe a hinge for use in plastic boxes which comprises a pair of spaced spherical projections carried by one portion of a box, and a cylindrically-shaped projection carried by the other portion of the box and enclosed at its ends by the spherical projections. The cylindrically-shaped projection is provided at one end with a cup-shaped or concave recess and at the other end with a curved slot which extends perpendicularly to the axis of the cylindrically-shaped projection, the recess and the curved slot receiving the pair of spherical projections. I have since improved that construction, particularly with regard to the construction of the cylindrically-shaped projection by the employment of tapered grooved recesses at each end for receiving the spherical projection. This results in a more perfect hinge action when the box portions are swung relative to each other, and facilitate the action of interlocking the cylindrically-shaped projection with the pair of spherical projections.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an interlocking hinge for plastic boxes' which in use enables the box portions being connected together by the hinge to be assembled more easily than possible with prior art hinges.

Another object is to improve prior art hinge construction, particularly integrally molded hinges for plastic boxes.

Another object is to provide an integrally moulded, interlocking hinge for plastic boxes which is not subject to Wear or misalignment.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following specification.

In achieving the aforementioned objectives of the present invention it was found advantageous to provide a hinge which comprises a pair of spaced spherical projections made integral with either the top or bottom portion of a box. The hinge also includes an interlocking or companion element, a cylindrically-shaped projection which is integral with the other portion of the box. The cylindrically-shaped element is provided at its ends with tapered, curved grooves. The grooves extend substantially parallel with each other and are inclined at an acute angle with respect to the axis of the cylindrical projection. Thus when the pair of spherical projections are snapped into a position enclosing the cylindrical projections, the spherical projections fit into the grooves and are retained therein regardless of relative swinging movement applied to the box portions.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing showing, by way of example, a preferred embodiment of the inventive concept.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevational view of a box provided with integrally moulded hinges constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing one of the pair of spherical projections constituting one of the elements of the hinge of the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the cylindrically-shaped projection constituting the other element of the hinge of the present invention.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of FIG. 4.

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of FIGURE 5.

Throughout the specification like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts.

Referring in detail to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, the box 10 illustrated therein is preferably made of plastic and is provided with a bottom 11 and a cover 12, the cover being connected to the bottom by means of hinges 1348. Hinges 13 and 14 only will be described in detail as the remaining hinges 15-18 are of the same construction. Furthermore, it should be apparent that the box may be provided with only one, two or as many hinges as required to provide an effective connection of the bottom and cover. Hinge 13 comprises a pair of spherical projections 19 and 26 which are moulded in tegrally with the bottom 11 of the box, the projections extending outwardly of the rear wall 21 of the bottom (FIG. 3) and being in alignment with each other. Hinge 13 also includes a cylindrically-shaped projection 22 which is moulded integrally with the rear wall 23 of the top 12 of the box and which fits in between spherical projections 19 and 20, the cylindrically-shaped projection having tapered, curved recesses 24 and 25 at each end (FIG. 4) for receiving projections 19 and 20 respectively.

Hinge 14 comprises the pair of spherical projections 26 and 27 which are moulded integrally with the top 12 of the box and which have their centers co-axial with the axis of cylindrically-shaped projection 22 of hinge 13. Likewise, hinge 14 includes a cylindrically-shaped projection 28 moulded integrally with the bottom 11 of the box and having its axis co-incident with the centers of spherical projections 19 and 20 of binge 13. Cylindrically-shaped projection 28 is also provided with tapered, curved recesses 29 and 30 for receiving projections 26 and 27 respectively.

Thus it is seen that the hinges 13 and 14 comprise the projections 26, 27 and 22 moulded with the top of the box, and the interlocking, companion projections 28, 19 and 20 moulded with the bottom of the box and are arranged in reverse relation.

Referring in detail now to FIGURES 4 to 6 wherein the details of the tapered recess construction is shown, the tapered, curved recesses 24 and 25 of cylindricallyshaped projection 22 extend parallel with each other and are arcuate in cross section. As seen in FIGURE 5, the recesses extend vertically, and are symmetrically arranged about an imaginary line EE extending parallel to the rear wall 23 of the top of box 12 and passing through the axis of the projection. Recess 24 tapers outwardly from the bottom to top, while recess 25 is oriented in an opposite sense, that is, it tapers outwardly from the top to bottom.

When the top or cover 12 of the box is to be connected to bottom 11, the cylindrically-shaped projection 22 is snapped in between spherical projections 19 and 20 as shown in FIGURE 4. Thereafter, any upward force tending to separate the top 12 from bottom 11 is thwarted by the fact that recess 25 diminishes in dimension in an upward direction and spherical projection 20 cannot be disengaged therefrom. Similarly, a downward force applied against the bottom 11 is countered by the fact that recess 24 diminishes in dimension in a downward direction so that spherical projection .19 cannot be disengaged from the recess 24. Furthermore, the spherical projections can be rotated freely in the recesses about a plane extending perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrically-shaped'projection to provide a true hinging movement between the top 12 and bottom 11 of the box.

Patented Apr. 5, 1966.

While there is above disclosed but one embodiment of the hinge of the present invention, it is possible to produce still other embodiments without departing from the scope of the inventive concept herein disclosed.

I claim:

A hinge for interconnecting rear walls of bottom and cover portions of a box, said hinge comprising two arms connected to the rear Wall of one of said portions and extending outwardly thereof in side by side spaced align ment, two spherically shaped projections carried by said arms, said two spherically shaped projections being of the same size and in alignment with each other, a third arm connected to the rear wall of the other portion and extending outwardly thereof, a cylindrical projection carried by said third arm and located between said two spherically shaped projections, the longitudinal axis of said cylindrical projection extending substantially through the center of said spherical projections, said cylindrical projection having opposed surfaces facing the two spherically shaped projections, each of said opposed surfaces having a tapered recess, each of said recesses having a curved bottom and edges converging toward each other and forming equal acute angles with a plane extending through said longitudinal axis of the cylindrical projection parallel to the rear wall of said other portion, the tapered recesses located on said opposed surfaces extending in opposite directions the entire length of said surfaces, said cylindrically shaped projections fitting into said recesses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,061,137 10/1962 Svoboda et a1.

3,077,232 2/ 1963 Eggers.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,014,364 8/1957 Germany.

JOSElH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner.

P. TEITELBAUM, Assistant Examiner. 

